Kadima Party Quits Israeli Government; Early Elections May Be Called

The Israeli government is in serious disarray after coalition partner, the Kadima party, quit over a dispute concerning the military conscription of Ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The leader of the centrist Kadima, Shaul Mofaz, said he had no choice but to sever his party’s short-lived partnership with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud's party.

It wasn't easy to enter it, Mofaz said earlier. I paid a personal political price but this issue is fundamental, and there is no choice but to leave the coalition. Every concession will harm Kadima's image.

The two sides failed to reach a compromise on the so-called “Tal Law” which concerns the exemption from military service of religious seminary students. Kadima was willing to permit yeshiva students to study until the age of 22 before enlisting in the military, but Netanyahu was not willing to go below the age of 26.